On this page
-
Text (1)
-
384 FRAU BATH.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
¦ • -«^> — ¦ — Of All The Women Who In G...
In due course of time the first great-grandchild was born to Frau Rath , and in _touching simplicity and affection she thus
addresses the infant : — - h " The great- grandmother of their is no th longer fit to od train d cheerful children ; she scold can t onl hem y
w umor hen th ev ey are y w naughty , wi ' t hou w t inquiring ey are g in o to the cause of their , an behaviour . thee But I will great love -grandmotherl thee , Johann blessings Greorge Edward ! Now , I I have will pray told the for thee and citizen give
of the my world what he has to expect y from me . " young Soon afterwards the French besieged Frankfort and levied heavy
contributions on that city . "Whoever was able to * get away took to flight , and Frau Hath went to Offenbach . The misfortunes of her
native town and the horrors of warfare deeply affected her ; but this evil time also passed and she returned to Frankfort . In 1797 Goethe
visited her with Christiane Vulpius and his son , then seven years old . It was the last time she saw him . In spite of the
admiration and respect which we entertain for the greatest German poet , we do not hesitate to denounce the relation in which he stood
to Frau Vulpius , and in which he remained for eighteen years , as his greatest fault . But on the other hand we must not blame the
mother that she saw this position of her son in a favorable light . She received Frau Vulpius cordially as her daughter-in-law , and
to her Frau Vulpius was never anything else but Goethe ' s lawful wife , though the marriage ceremony had not yet taken place . She
enters into a correspondence with her , and addresses her as " My dear daughter . "
In 1805 Frau Hath became acquainted with Bettine Brentano , who then numbered twenty-one years . Bettine had just lost a beloved
friend , and in the midst of her woe it occurred to her that she required a sympathetic soul to share in her grief . As she says
herself , she had hitherto never seen Frau Hath , but what did that matter ? She flies across the streets , bounces into Frau Rath ' s
room , and exclaims , " Frau Hath , I must make your acquaintance ; I have lost a friend and you must supply her place . " " Let us
intercourse try , " answered which the Bettine worth has y matron described , and in thus her " began Corresp that ondence mutual ¦;"
an intercourse full of enjoyment and gratification to both persons concerned , the perennial source of which was the enthusiasm and
love both bore to Goethe . The cheerful girl , who was always ready for merry tricksand who combined a vivid fancy with an
, inherent love for art and an equally unlimited admiration for Goethe , was indeed well suited as a companion to his mother .
Frau Bath died on the 13 th of September , 1808 . Not long " before , she says in one of her letters : —
But " , I aye have , says been I at intolerable last to myself latterlv , for , striving shame old against Rathin fate , thou and hast Gfod . had plenty * * to are of tread p g leasant iven continually to day thee s , in thou the upon world oughtest flowers , and to , in Wolf bear sx > gang up ite against of besides having them . overstepx Now . Dost when _> ed thou the evil expect usual days
limit of life , being more than seventy years old ?"
384 Frau Bath.
384 _FRAU BATH .
-
-
Citation
-
English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Feb. 1, 1859, page 384, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01021859/page/24/
-